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AUTOS ON FRIDAY/Technology; Promise, and Pitfalls, of Fuel Cells

FUEL cells, devices that produce electricity from hydrogen with only water as a byproduct, are emerging as the auto industry's darling technology of the future -- the most promising alternative to the internal-combustion engine. Manufacturers are racing to become the first to put such a vehicle on the market.

Fuel cells combine hydrogen with oxygen in an electrochemical reaction that generates electricity; the hydrogen can be carried in tanks or converted from methanol or gasoline. The cells have been used in aerospace since the 1960's, but only in the last decade have they been considered an alternative to a car's internal-combustion engine. Now, most of the world's leading auto manufacturers have fuel cell vehicles in the works. Some promise to have such a vehicle on the market within five years.

So far, DaimlerChrysler A.G. appears to be in the lead. The company has invested on the order of $1.4 billion in fuel cell research in the last five years -- both Daimler-Benz and Chrysler were pursuing different strategies before they merged, and they had demonstrated several fuel-cell prototypes. Last month in Washington, DaimlerChrysler took the wraps off Necar 4, an A-Class subcompact equipped with fuel cells.

The fourth Daimler-based fuel-cell vehicle to be shown publicly, Necar 4 -- for ''new electric car'' -- represented significant breakthroughs. Its storage tanks for liquid hydrogen fuel, akin to the vacuum bottles one might use to take soup on a picnic, are inconspicuously stored beneath the floor, as are the stacks of cells. The cargo area remains clear for luggage. The tanks and fuel cells for previous Necars, the first of them shown in 1994, consumed so much space that they had to be loaded into a full-size van, leaving little room for people and none for cargo.

The driving range of Necar 4 has been extended to 280 miles from 148 miles for Necar 2; few electric cars can go more than 150 miles on a charge. Acceleration and top speed increased to 90 miles an hour from only 68 m.p.h. for Necar 2.

DaimlerChrysler insists that it will offer fuel cell vehicles for sale in 2004 -- perhaps as many as 100,000 a year. The company already has fuel-cell buses operating in Los Angeles, Chicago and Vancouver, British Colombia. Vancouver is the hometown of Ballard Power Systems, a fuel-cell manufacturer partly owned by the auto maker.

Likewise, the Ford Motor Company, which also owns a piece of Ballard, says it will have a fuel-cell car on the market at about the same time as DaimlerChrysler. Ford showed its P2000 prototype, with the body of a Ford Contour, at the Detroit auto show in January.

The General Motors Corporation asserts that it will have a production-ready fuel-cell car by 2004. Opel, G.M.'s European unit, displayed a fuel-cell minivan in October.

Honda, Toyota and Nissan also have fuel cell cars in the works. In Germany, BMW plans next year to have a small fleet of large 7-Series sedans equipped with an internal-combustion engine as well as a fuel cell that would power accessories.

Despite their promise, fuel cells still pose big hurdles, and they are likely to be confined to commercial fleets, at least initially. Cost is crucial. DaimlerChrysler executives estimate that fuel cells remain 10 times too expensive; the cells for an average-size car cost about $30,000, compared with only $3,000 for a conventional engine. Still, that is much improved. Only five years ago, fuel cells were at least 50 times more expensive than they are today.

Though they have become more efficient and much smaller, fuel cells and fuel storage tanks remain heavy and bulky. DaimlerChrysler engineers figure that the cars need to shed at least 600 pounds. The small Necar 4 shown in Washington weighed a whopping 3,800 pounds. As a result, acceleration is sluggish; the car requires 6.5 seconds to reach 35 m.p.h.

The greatest challenge, however, is the lack of an infrastructure for producing, storing and distributing hydrogen. The fuel is available in almost infinite quantities, but had to be stored in liquid form on the Necar 4 at about 430 degrees below zero. Only one public filling station for liquefied and gaseous hydrogen exists -- at the airport in Munich, Germany.

The lack of infrastructure has led automakers to consider using more common fuels, particularly methanol, to produce hydrogen through the use of an on-board reformer. But a reformer adds even more weight, takes precious space and adds another 25 percent to the cost.

There is research into the use of methane without a reformer, although methane can contaminate the fuel cells. Before its merger, Chrysler considered the novel approach of producing hydrogen on-board using gasoline. Though development continues on that idea, DaimlerChrysler has been unable to make it work; the target date for such a technology has been put off until 2010.

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A version of this article appears in print on April 2, 1999, on Page F00001 of the National edition with the headline: AUTOS ON FRIDAY/Technology; Promise, and Pitfalls, of Fuel Cells. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe